State v. Ouellette

2006 ME 81, 901 A.2d 800, 2006 Me. LEXIS 90
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJuly 6, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 2006 ME 81 (State v. Ouellette) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Ouellette, 2006 ME 81, 901 A.2d 800, 2006 Me. LEXIS 90 (Me. 2006).

Opinion

CALKINS, J.

[¶ 1] Priscilla Ouellette appeals from a judgment of conviction of terrorizing (Class D), 17-A M.R.S. § 210(1)(A) (2005); assault (Class D), 17-A M.R.S. § 207(1)(A) (2005); refusing to submit to arrest or detention (Class D), 17-A M.R.S. § 751-A(1)(B) (2005); and refusing to sign a uniform summons and complaint (Class E), 17-A M.R.S. § 15-A(1) (2005), entered in the District Court (Biddeford, Kennedy, J.) following a bench trial. Ouellette’s only contention on appeal is that the court erred in finding that she voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waived her right to a jury trial. We agree with her contention and vacate the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] The terrorizing charge against Ouellette stems from an encounter she had with her former step-daughter during a charity event on the afternoon of March 6, 2005, at the Elks Lodge in Saco. The charges of assault, refusing to submit to arrest, and refusing to sign a uniform summons and complaint arose later that same day at the police station when a police officer told Ouellette that she would be summonsed on the terrorizing charge. She became agitated and said she would not sign the summons. She tried to leave the room, pushing a second police officer in the process. The second police officer told her she was under arrest for assault, and the officers handcuffed her and took her to the booking room.

[¶ 3] After spending that night and the next morning in the York County Jail, Ouellette was taken to the District Court on March 7, 2005. The court (Wheeler, J.) addressed a courtroom audience apparently composed of prisoners and others. The court instructed the audience as follows:

COURT: All right. Good afternoon .... I’m going to advise you of your rights, and then I’m going to go through your cases one at a time. I understand that there are three people in the general audience who were supposed to have been here on another date and are here unscheduled, and I’d ask that you listen, as well, because you’re basically in the same position as the people who are in orange. You’re just not wearing orange. Your rights are as follows: You are presumed to be innocent unless and until the State proves beyond a reasonable doubt each and every element of the crime with which you are charged. You have the right to *803 remain silent. You’re not required to answer any questions or make any statements. However, anything you do say can and will be used against you. You do have the right to have an attorney represent you at every stage of the proceedings. If you cannot afford an attorney and there is a risk that you will go to jail if convicted, the Court will appoint an attorney to represent you after today. Today [the attorney for the day] has been appointed to represent you, and by now he should have spoken to most of you. He is a free attorney for today, and if you need an attorney after today, you will have to apply for an attorney, and we’ll give you a form to do that. You also have the right to a speedy jury trial, and at the trial, you have the right to be represented by an attorney. You have the right to confront and cross-examine the State’s witnesses against you. You have the right to call witnesses on your own behalf, and you have the right to testify or to decline to testify at trial. At trial, the State will have the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt each and every element of the crime with which you are charged. Now, most of you will probably be here on misdemeanors— Class D or E crimes. A misdemeanor carries — a Class D misdemeanor carries as a maximum penalty up to a year in prison. A Class E carries up to six months in jail. If you are here on a felony — a Class A, B, or C — your sentences could be much longer. A Class C felony which is the least serious of the felonies carries a maximum of up to five years in prison. There will be other things that you need to know, but I will be telling them to you individually because each of your cases are slightly different. Let me begin.

[¶4] After the general instruction, the court addressed Ouellette.

COURT: Priscilla Ouellette? Miss Ouellette, you’re being charged with terrorizing a Judy [L.], assaulting Scott [R.], and refusing to submit to an arrest, and faffing to sign a uniform summons. These are alleged to have occurred on March 6th, 2005 in Saco. The Class D’s are punishable by up to a year in jail. [A]re any of these domestic violence crimes?
[PROSECUTOR]: No, your Honor.
COURT: All right. So, you are looking at up to a year in jail, you understand that, ma'am?
MS. OUELLETTE: (Inaudible response).
COURT: Is there risk of jail?
[PROSECUTOR]: Urn, possibly probation, your Honor.
COURT: All right. So, there is a risk of jail. I will enter not guilty to ... all four counts. Trial will be on May 2nd at 8:30 in the Biddeford District Court. And is there an agreement concerning bail?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes.

[¶ 5] A discussion then took place between the court, the prosecutor, Ouellette, and the unidentified speaker about bail and whether additional charges for driving to endanger and criminal mischief, alleged to have occurred a month earlier, were pending. There was no mention of the right to a jury trial in that discussion.

[¶ 6] The “unidentified speaker” in the transcript is presumably the person referred to in the court’s general instruction as the “free attorney for today.” The official transcript states that Ouellette appeared pro se, and the docket entries do not indicate that she was represented at the March 7 court appearance. However, there is handwriting on the back of the criminal complaint that indicates that an *804 attorney appeared at Ouellette’s March 7 court appearance and that gives the attorney’s name.

[¶ 7] On April 20, 2005, Ouellette submitted a motion for appointment of counsel. The court (Foster; J.) found her indigent and appointed counsel. The appointed counsel requested a continuance of the May 2 trial date, which the court granted, setting the new trial date for July 18.

[¶ 8] Before trial commenced on July 18, Ouellette’s counsel stated that she was requesting a jury trial. Her counsel told the court:

I’m not sure she fully understands her rights with regard to request for jury trial. I think we might need to take some testimony from her on this request. ... [I]t’s an issue she believes strongly in and [she] wants these cases to proceed only in front of a jury.
The court responded: -
Well, I’m not going to take any testimony on that, and I’m also going to deny the request for ... jury trial. The Court is at great pains to explain what the Rules are in the arraignment speech. We give everybody individualized notice that there’s a twenty-one day deadline for requesting a jury trial. [H]aving said that, if there’s a trial, we’ll have it today.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2006 ME 81, 901 A.2d 800, 2006 Me. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ouellette-me-2006.